The big-time trade I wish we would do....it involves Gay, but not coming here.

This deal is the kind of deal I would like Toronto to do. It involves many players who have been in rumours. It would not sacrifice flexibility. It would not sacrifice young assets or make it tough to develop them. The biggest issue might be some depth lost at nearly all positions. But if we can still get a couple of players for depth back as well thrown in there somewhere, especially a PG, I have no problems at all.

There are certainly lots of parts that could change, but basically it goes like this at the core. Toronto gets Pierce and Pau. LAL gets Bargs and Gay, who could both thrive in the D'Antoni system. Gay would get more open looks, and Bargs would move from a 1st option to something like 5th behind Kobe, Dwight, Gay and Nash. Probably the right role for him, and would probably become their 6th man. Boston gets to dump salary with only Fields adding some commitment (but he has a year less than Lee). If they're going into tank mode, I expect whatever trade they make will look like something similar. Memphis gets Jamison, Lee and AA, who can all shoot. Lee and Amir are long-term, but they break up Gay's deal into a smaller total with 2 parts that both have pretty good value contracts should they need to move one again, and both could be good role players on a team like Memphis if they want to keep winning.

Fans will hate to lose Amir, but will probably learn to love Arthur for the same reasons. Pau takes the load off JV and starts at C. It's easy to cut Arthur out of the main 3 bigs rotation if JV and Ed keep developing as hoped. Pau and Pierce will both still be very attractive trade pieces next year (as long as they're both healthy enough) with their experience and huge expiring contracts. So if things aren't working, or even if they are but changes need to be made with a long-term focus, it's easy to fix. And we have actually better assets to get a real top tier player if one becomes available. Pierce/Demar + Ed/Gasol + 1st rd pick could far outweigh anything we have to offer this year on the market.
Again, while I trade machine'd this, it could look a bit different, but for some reason, this kind of deal is much more appealing to me than any where we end up with Gay. It would basically give us 2 legit, albeit declining, 1A (or 1B now) type players...Guys who in their prime were borderline franchise players, and both have championship experience. This is something our team badly lacks. It wouldn't hinder the development of any of our young players (even with Pierce, Ross' minutes should go up if we unload AA and/or Fields). It wouldn't destroy flexibility. And it would also have a chance to instantly make us a playoff team, and give our young players firsthand experience. Both Pierce and Gasol would also be incredibly easy to move next year if they're still playing well, much easier than moving Gay and getting something desirable back. That's the thing. If we trade for Gay and he continues to underachieve, once again if BC has to unload someone he acquired, he will have a hard time getting the value he wants and probably get less back than what he gave up for him. But if we get Gasol and Pierce without giving up any of our good young assets, we will have a myriad of options to make any changes to improve the team.

I think any trade like this works in the now and the future. It could save BC his job and not screw the team's future. I think any trade that gets Gay doesn't make us much better, and is just a job saving move without the team's best interests in mind. I think any such trade would force us to build teams as we have before around VC and Bosh, but only with a less talented player.

I have no use for Gasol or Pierce. They are way too old and not part of any long-term plan. Plus, BC seems to be intent on acquiring Gay, not facilitating a trade that sees him wind up with a division rival.

I could get behind a trade like this. The fact that Pierce can be bought out for $4M next year helps and we get rid of Bargnani. I don't actually see Pierce helping (I actually would do it just to unload his contract next year in a buyout).

I do see a couple of issues though (just in my opinion)...

LA is going after Lebron and wants at most 2 year salaries not 3 year salaries. Otherwise they would want to shed salary to get away from the super tax not add salary. With this trade they would add about $3M plus they would lose some depth by trading Jamison as well. The Lakers need to strengthen their bench not make it worse.

Boston on the other hand is probably not going to want to trade Pierce to a team in their own division. I could be wrong about that but I know that would be a hard sell to a fan base, especially if its just a salary dump with no picks coming back.

I could get behind a trade like this. The fact that Pierce can be bought out for $4M next year helps and we get rid of Bargnani. I don't actually see Pierce helping (I actually would do it just to unload his contract next year in a buyout).

I do see a couple of issues though (just in my opinion)...

LA is going after Lebron and wants at most 2 year salaries not 3 year salaries. Otherwise they would want to shed salary to get away from the super tax not add salary. With this trade they would add about $3M plus they would lose some depth by trading Jamison as well. The Lakers need to strengthen their bench not make it worse.

Boston on the other hand is probably not going to want to trade Pierce to a team in their own division. I could be wrong about that but I know that would be a hard sell to a fan base, especially if its just a salary dump with no picks coming back.

I agree with what you say about Boston. But I think the sell won't be as hard if they basically expect to not contend for the next couple of years anyway. IT could be an issue, but if they are already talking other trades, it can't be that big an issue. IT's not like they'd be giving him to the Knicks or something, too.

I disagree with the LA stuff though. LA is always in win-now mode. All the financial planning was done without knowing they would get Dwight, or Nash for that matter. I do agree it doesn't help their depth, but Jamison plays sporadically already. D'Antoni doesn't coach for depth, so it doesn't really matter. They would still have Howard/Bargs/Clark at the bigs, Kobe/Gay/MWP/Meeks at the wings, and Nash/Duhon at PG. That's 9 guys and the most D'Antoni ever plays.
They won't just sit around waiting for money to come off the books on the chance that LeBron might come. They are always players, and see it just as likely all the moeny they have coming off the books could be traded away next year to attract a big-time player. They never count on free agency to acquire their core players.

I have no use for Gasol or Pierce. They are way too old and not part of any long-term plan. Plus, BC seems to be intent on acquiring Gay, not facilitating a trade that sees him wind up with a division rival.

Also, part of the point of this trade is that they in fact aren't part of the long-term plan. This gives flexibility to re-evaluate the long-term plan next year. And don't say neither could have value. Pierce, I would imagine gets traded as he wouldn't want to stay long term. He'll have immense trade value that can improve our future. Gasol, if we trade him or not, if he keeps declining, he might want something like a bench role behind two budding young bigs like JV and Ed. In my trade, we give up none of our young assets, and I think having Gasol and Pierce increases our chances of adding assets and flexibility from next year on. Just because they may not be on the roster longer than a season and a half, doesn't mean they can't contribute to the long-term success of the team.